LAS VEGAS (SMU) – The SMU men's golf team is in fifth place at the 2017 Southern Highlands Collegiate after shooting a 1-under-par 287 in the opening round. SMU boasts three individuals among the top 25, including senior
Andrew Buchanan and junior
Gray Townsend who are tied for 12th on the leaderboard.
"Today the guys played great," SMU head coach
Jason Enloe said. "They all hung in there on a very challenging course. It is fun when all the guys are into the round and competing hard for the team. I'm very proud of today's effort as we compete with the best teams in the nation."
Buchanan and Townsend paced the Mustangs on day one with a pair of 1-under-par 71s. Buchanan, a senior from Los Altos, Calif., shot an even (72) front nine, before birdying holes 4 and 9 to finish the day. He finished the day with four birdies. Townsend, a Winston-Salem, N.C., native, shot a 1-under front nine, before maintaining the score with an even back nine. He also finished the day with four birdies.
Sophomore
Ben Baxter is currently tied for 23rd after shooting even par (72). The Flower Mound, Texas, native shot even on both sides of the turn, with four birdies on the day. Freshman
Daniel Connolly shot a 1-over-par 73 to finish day one tied for 29th. Senior
Alex Higgs shot a 2-over-par 72 to finish tied for 42nd.
No. 7 Southern California (USC) leads the event at 10-under-par (278), followed by No. 10 Stanford (-7, 281) and Pepperdine (-6, 282). SMU is one stroke behind Oklahoma State, who is in fourth at (-2, 286). The Mustangs are ahead of eight ranked opponents, including No. 2 Florida and No. 5 Illinois.
The Mustangs will continue play at the Southern Highlands Collegiate Tuesday, March 7. SMU will be paired with UNLV and Oklahoma State in round two. Tee times begin at 11:50 a.m. CT/9:50 PT. Live scoring is available on
Golfstat, and a recap will be posted on SMUMustangs.com at the conclusion of each round.
--SMUMustangs.com--
